MUFG Securities EMEA plc Buys 81,599 Shares of MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• MUFG Securities EMEA plc sharply increased its MSCI stake by 5,509.7% in the fourth quarter, buying 81,599 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 83,080 shares worth about $47.7 million.
• MSCI continues to draw strong institutional interest, with major holders like Vanguard, State Street, and JPMorgan also raising their positions; institutional investors now own 89.97% of the company.
• Analysts remain bullish on MSCI after recent upgrades from Wells Fargo and others, giving the stock a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $697.70, while the company also posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue.

MUFG Securities EMEA plc grew its stake in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 5,509.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 83,080 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 81,599 shares during the quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc owned about 0.11% of MSCI worth $47,665,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of MSCI by 1.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,674,093 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $5,489,177,000 after acquiring an additional 165,851 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of MSCI by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,320,761 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,884,233,000 after acquiring an additional 39,450 shares in the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY increased its position in shares of MSCI by 10.3% during the third quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 2,394,117 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,358,446,000 after acquiring an additional 223,784 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of MSCI by 6.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,777,749 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,008,745,000 after acquiring an additional 109,287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of MSCI by 36.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,069,180 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $606,674,000 after acquiring an additional 282,859 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about MSCI

Here are the key news stories impacting MSCI this week:

• Positive Sentiment: MSCI was the subject of a Wells Fargo upgrade, with one article arguing the stock still looks reasonable after the move and that AI demand could support future growth. A Look At MSCI NYSE: MSCI Valuation After Wells Fargo Upgrade And AI Demand Tailwinds
• Neutral Sentiment: MSCI’s rebalancing changes prompted large market moves in India, including sharp declines in the Sensex and Nifty as passive funds adjusted holdings. These articles explain the mechanics of the index rebalance and the resulting volatility, but they do not indicate a direct hit to MSCI’s own fundamentals. The MSCI rebalancing candle: Here's why Sensex fell 850 points in 10 minutes today
• Neutral Sentiment: Additional coverage from Indian financial outlets said the MSCI rebalancing led to outsized foreign-fund outflows and a broad market drop, underscoring MSCI’s influence on global index flows rather than its core business performance. FIIs pull out massive Rs 20,637 crore in single day on Friday. What led to this sharp exit?

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSCI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $700.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded MSCI from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on MSCI from $710.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $655.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of MSCI from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $650.00 to $700.00 in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and ten have given a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $697.70.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other MSCI news, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $592.04, for a total transaction of $5,920,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 23,548 shares in the company, valued at $13,941,357.92. The trade was a 29.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total value of $252,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 22,544 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,624,640. This represents a 1.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 3.76% of the company's stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI opened at $630.39 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.24. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $570.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $567.12. MSCI Inc has a 52-week low of $501.08 and a 52-week high of $640.27.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The technology company reported $4.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.38 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $850.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $830.91 million. MSCI had a net margin of 40.74% and a negative return on equity of 65.48%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.00 EPS. Research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 19.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $2.05 per share. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. MSCI's payout ratio is currently 46.83%.

About MSCI

MSCI Inc is a global provider of investment decision support tools and services for the financial industry. The company is best known for its family of market indexes, which are widely used as benchmarks by asset managers and as the basis for exchange-traded funds and other passive products. In addition to index construction and licensing, MSCI offers portfolio analytics, risk models, factor and performance attribution tools, and a suite of data and technology solutions designed to support portfolio management and trading.

Beyond traditional indexing and risk analytics, MSCI has expanded into environmental, social and governance (ESG) research and ratings, offering data, scores and screening tools that help investors integrate sustainability considerations into investment processes.

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